Our church reading plan has taken us into the book of Judges in the Old Testament. It is the story of the cycles the Israelites went through after they entered the Promised Land. The cycles go like this:
They begin by serving God, then they become comfortable in the blessings God is showering on them. Instead of being thankful to the One True God, they begin looking at the gods of the peoples around them and worshipping them, turning away from God.
Well, of course, God doesn’t like this. He is a jealous God but He also loves them, so much so that He wants what is best for them (which is a right relationship with Him) and He brings oppression to help them begin to think in the right way again.
They realize that there is only one God and He called them to be His special children. Perhaps they remembered the miracles He performed for them in their history, among them bringing them out of Egypt where they were in slavery, and into the Promised Land.
Then they cry out to God to forgive them.
He answers by sending a deliverer, a judge, to save them from the country that is currently oppressing them. Then they love and serve the Lord God again.
Judges that God used to deliver them include Deborah, Gideon, and Samson.
Are you and I in this cycle somewhere?